


STRQ The Breakup

by Canonseeker



Category: RWBY
Genre: Baby Yang Xiao Long, Bad Parent Raven Branwen, Canon Compliant, F/M, Good Parent Taiyang Xiao Long, Pre-RWBY, Pre-Volume 1 (RWBY), Team STRQ Era (RWBY), pregnancy struggles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29304306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canonseeker/pseuds/Canonseeker
Summary: Why did Raven abandon Taiyang and Yang?How did Summer end up with Taiyang in raising Yang?When did they learn about the Branwen  Tribe?Let's explore a canon-compliant option, shall we?
Relationships: Raven Branwen & Taiyang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose & Taiyang Xiao Long, Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long
Kudos: 2





	STRQ The Breakup

(How had it happened?) Summer wondered as she stared at the house her teammates had built. A house that was going to be their home...For Summer, Qrow, Raven, Tai...and 

Yang.

Ever since her pregnancy Raven had been acting strange, and even Qrow, normally grouchy, had been looking at both her and Tai with concern...Summer had assumed Qrow was concerned about his sister and future niece.

Even though the Raven was having the child of the blonde goofball she had always felt feelings for, Summer was actually happy when Tai asked her to be the Godmother for their child...in a sense, it meant to her that she was still family to him...And Raven seemed..eager to have Summer stay close to her rather than keep her at a distance...

"What will you name your child" Summer had asked her partner out of curiosity.

"I don't know" Raven said, munching down on peaches and cookies. "I never thought I would fall in love, much less this"

"I'm still happy for you Rae" Summer half-smiled.

Raven looked at her friend confused.."Summer do you hate me?"

Summer was taken aback. "Raven your my BFF, you're like a sister to me! Why would I hate you?"

"I know you love Tai"

Summer gripped her hands into fists "Raven, whatever you're saying-"

"Let me finish" Raven continued. "We both cared about that idiot, both of us had feelings for him, and we both knew the other did. I chose to act and get myself closer because I wanted to feel like a normal person instead of what I was supposed to be...you didn't act because you were afraid of what might happen...now here we are...I know I asked you to be the godmother, but are you going to be okay with that?"

Summer looked at Raven, took a deep breath..."No matter what happens, all 3 of you are family to me...I'm the leader of STRQ. I cannot let jealousy be something that harms us as a whole. I have to be strong."

"In mind or in body" Raven was curious.

"Both like you" Summer replied, trying to crack a joke.

"Not anymore, now you're stronger in body" Raven said with a frown.

Summer was confused "I don't follow-"

"Women are the braver sex, women can endure the pain men cannot of childbirth, yada yada" Raven sighed "Look at me Summer. I have a literal human being growing inside me. I have to eat a lot of food to support it's growth. It's already too far into term for us to safely remove it without going to Atlas. I cannot train, my emotions and hormones run wild, have these weird cravings, and my body feels weaker. I have lived my life trying to be independent, yet right now I have no other choice but to put my safety well-being and even mind in the hands of others…I cannot even work a lot of different jobs in this state! I’m-“ Raven looked her friend with pain, fear, and anger “I’m helpless…and I’m weak in this.”

Summer was shocked…her proud warrior partner was in this state….despite all the talk people gave about how glorious being a mother was, it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t simple.

Raven and Tai would have to raise their child, and how much lien would that be alone? A hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand? And between taking care of a child, how would they have time for training? Would their senses have dulled once they resumed the war?

“You get what I’m saying, don’t you?” Raven asked sadly. “I’m sorry, but that is the price I’m paying to create a life out of Tai and my love…it made me weak.

“But not defenseless, not helpless” Summer looked at her friend in the eye..

“How do you know that for sure?” Raven’s eyes narrowed.

“Because I am here” Summer said firmly “And I will see this through as a Godmother”

The two women would look at each other, neither speaking, neither even moving, simply reading each other’s expressions for several minutes till the door opened startling them both.

“Hey!”  
“Easy!”

“Sorry, I thought I was being quiet,” Taiyang apologized as he brought in a plate of sandwiches. “I heard you two conversing but didn’t want to interfere. I’m assuming that chat had worked up an appetite for you two, so I’ll let you have my share-“

“Thanks Tai,” Summer said with a smile, “but I think I need to go shopping.”

Taking several sandwiches and walking out, Taiyang could only look confused at Raven.

“Is she going to be okay? Did something happen?”

“I explained to her what I was going through,” Raven explained around her 2nd sandwich “She didn’t like it”

“The pregnancy is definitely taking a toll on you, and honestly I was worried, this is something none of us ever prepared for, ever dealt with before….but we still have each other! Qrow and Summer are here for us…we’re not alone. We have family we can trust. Summer has always been there for us…so has Qrow”

“Even with his semblance?” Raven chuckled. 

“He never hurt us with it…I know your brother will be careful…that’s what family does” Taiyang squeezed Raven’s hand while kissing her forehead.

“Please stay like this with me a little while longer” Raven murmured, feeling sleepy.

“Always”.  
____________________________________________________________________  
It had been 6 months since they had that chat…it had been 3 months since Raven’s child, Yang, was born. Qrow couldn’t stop laughing at how Taiyang had the lack of imagination to name a child except into a pun of his own name….and it was this month…where Raven had left them all.

As soon as she had recovered…all she left was a note. (I wish I had your resolve…I wish I had your hope…I wish I had your empathy…but I was never meant to play the role of a huntress for as long as I did….But you have chosen a war with a deadly enemy worse than Grimm, and so long as we follow this path, we are not safe…Summer, Tai…I love you both…please do not find me…I will not be your friend when that happens)

Summer places the letter on the table in front of the couch she and Tai are sitting, facing Ozpin, Glynda, and Qrow… “Well?” She demanded. “Is anyone going to tell us   
something?”

Glynda rearranged her glasses. “We did some background checking on the name Branwen and we found something unexpected”

“Wait, you two aren’t Branwen?” Tai whispered, still in shock from what was happening.

“They are, and yet they are not” Ozpin commented with a frustrated sigh. “I think you should explain, Qrow, if that is in fact your name”

“It is,” Qrow took a swig from his new flask that he had bought to celebrate becoming an uncle. Alcoholism was a curse for many, but for him it gave him something he felt comfort with…but then such was addiction.

“I don’t remember my parents that much, but they were former huntsmen. They had awakened our aura and wanted us to be ready for life…that was a mistake…my semblance murdered them, and it nearly killed me had Raven not used her semblance to pull me to safety…unfortunately, our actions were spotted by a bandit tribe called the Branwens…they took us in and raised us…we learned to steal and kill till our existence was threatened by the huntsmen…. So we assembled weapons and infiltrated the schools to learn how to kill you all”

Tai’s voice shook with fury as he shouted at his partner “WE TRUSTED YOU! WE BELIEVED IN YOU! WE TREATED YOU AS FAMILY!”

“Tai! We’re both upset, but Yang won’t be able to handle this right now” Summer addressed her teammate. Taiyang stopped, looked at his daughter in Summer’s arms, and then sat down on his hands to maintain focus. (If I had told him to calm down, he probably would have done the opposite) Summer thought with a half-smile.

“It’s true,” Qrow startled everyone with tears coming down his eyes “Nobody wanted me because I was a bad luck charm a threat a killer….you all gave me hope, purpose, a higher calling, and family…the family I wish I had but never knew what it was like” Qrow gulped from the flask again. “You all treated me and my sister better than anyone ever did, and we still betrayed you…we still broke your trust in us”.

“I am so sorry….lying to you all was the worst thing we ever did”

“We did something worse, blindly trusting somebody we thought were friends” Summer remarked bitterly.

“That’s the true cruelty of this world,” Qrow admitted. “Hope and despair, light and dark…you may not know which is which to believe in till you’re already played the fool”.

“So that’s your final act for us?” Taiyang was aghast. “You’re going to just give us some words of wisdom and then leave us like that?”

“You’re not leaving, Qrow” Ozpin said firmly. “Even with Raven’s semblance, I have ways of preventing that”

“I was supposed to leave with Raven yesterday,” Qrow said matter-of-factly. “I told her no”.

The room was silent…till Glynda broke it. “What?”

Rather than respond, Qrow turned into a bird, flew about the room, then resumed his form.

“I hated the Name Qrow. It symbolized bad luck. You may take pride in your names, but you and I are not the same. You don’t want the burden of my name. And yet you Oz…you gave me a new way to look at myself…a way to be a better person…maybe my semblance does reflect my name, maybe I am still bad luck…but what I am does not need to define who I am..I still want to make a difference, for all of you”

Tossing aside his sword, Qrow bowed before his friends “Please….let me make things right for all of you”.  
Silence once again filled the room. This time, it was Summer who broke it.

“Yang is still going to need an Uncle.”

“I trust you are still going to be responsible with the magic I gave you” Ozpin warned him.

“We’ll be watching to make sure that everything stays according to the rules this time” Glynda snapped, though not harshly.

“You get one chance left, Jerk…don’t waste this” Taiyang begged him.

Qrow smiled widely. “I promise you all…I’m going to make it up to each of you.”  
______________________________________________________________________  
As everyone else left the cabin, Summer approached Tai, kneeling on the ground now that Yang was in her crib.

“I don’t know what to do Summer,” Taiyang cried softly “I feel so…lost. Please, tell me what to do, give me an order, make a request, anything! I need your help”

(We were the strongest team of Beacon, and we fell because of our own members, not because of salem or grimm) Summer thought back to her conversation with Raven about strength,….about resolve…and trust.

He was right here…he needed her…he could be all hers now, she only had to demand it…but she wouldn’t…it wouldn’t be right…if they would ever have a relationship, it would have to be a different way.

“I need you trust me” Summer took a cloth to wipe his tears. “I will be here for you both…but we need to work together…from here on out, you and I are partners now”

Tai looked at her quietly, till the brawler spoke “You won’t leave me?”

“You are my family,” Summer whispered into his ear as she hugged him “I won’t abandon family”

(Have your tribe, Raven) Summer had made her decision (This family is mine, and I will ensure it survives)

For I am here.


End file.
